"At least you can't fault the entertainment value," someone said to me as I left Huish Park in the gathering gloom yesterday afternoon after watching the Glovers snatching a draw out of the jaws of victory. I may have grinned and said something inane in return, but the remark set me thinking. And the conclusion to my thoughts was, well, actually, you most certainly can fault the entertainment value. Oh, I've no doubt the 1,000-odd Swindon supporters at the match left South Somerset in a relatively happy frame of mind. Why wouldn't they? They had seen their team come back from 3-1 down with less than 5 minutes left on the board to draw 3-3 and could very easily have even snatched a winner right at the death. But even amidst their euphoria they should have been concerned: Watching yesterday's match with it's lack of quality from both teams in both halves of the pitch was like watching two balding men arguing over the use of a comb.

The first half was probably the worst 45 minutes of football I've seen at Huish Park this season, and I've seen some bad halves, believe you me. The Glovers started with the same 4-4-1-1 formation that has seen us play some of our best football at home this season (the Tranmere and Southampton games in particular spring to mind), but for whatever reason it wasn't working yesterday. The word 'scrappy' doesn't really do justice to the fare served up by both sides. There was plenty of hard work, lots of closing down, but moments of quality very few and far between - one of those games where you find yourself watching the play but drifting off into a reverie, thinking about past games, what you're going to have for dinner tonight, the colour of the living-room wallpaper, the price of a ticket to watch Sherborne Town - that kind of thing. The atmosphere for a so-called derby match was as flat as a pancake with only the antics of Swindon's Matt Ritchie livening up the crowd, with his propensity for diving and falling over whenever a Yeovil player came within three feet of him irritating everyone in the Cowlin Stand. The one that got away, Charlie Austin, gave the visitors the lead in the 23rd minute, converting a harmless-looking cross despite being surrounded by defenders. Fair play to Skivo, he could see as well as everyone else that whatever we were doing wasn't working and made the change to a 4-4-2 after half-an-hour, Andy Welsh being replaced by Sam Williams. The Glovers got a lifeline they barely deserved with the last kick of the half, Gavin Williams low and powerful free-kick somehow evading the Swindon wall and beating David Lucas in the visitors goal. 1-1 at half-time, but it felt more like 0-0.

The Glovers lost keeper Stephen Henderson at half-time with a head injury, goalkeeping coach Ben Roberts deputising for his first competitive game in 6 years. The enforced change didn't seem to matter at first, with the Glovers somehow going into a 2-goal lead, though neither goal owed much to the concept of the beautiful game. A deep cross from the left on 50 minutes was flicked over keeper Lucas by Sam Williams and met at the far post by Dean Bowditch to put Yeovil 2-1 up. Ten minutes later and a Nathan Jones long-ball from inside his own half set Bowditch free with the Swindon defence nowhere to be seen, the striker finishing past Lucas with aplomb. 3-1 to the home side and game over, or so most in the ground must have thought. But as we've seen in the past, there's nothing more brittle or frail than this Yeovil side when they're defending a lead. Roberts in the Yeovil goal had coped pretty well up until now with everything Swindon had thrown at him, but with three minutes left on the clock it all started to go wrong. A Swindon corner found the home defence and keeper looking like statues and then looking at each other as Sean Morrison bundled the ball home at the far post. Where was his marker? Where was the far post defender? Where was the keeper? A minute later and we were watching in disbelief as Swindon equalised. Another corner, the ball punched away by Roberts but only to Jon-Paul McGovern at the edge of the box, whose shot managed to avoid everyone in the crowded penalty area to hit the back of the net. 3-3 at the final whistle and from Yeovil's point of view, two points thrown away.

I don't propose to do my usual player ratings today, other than to say I'd give Dean Bowditch an 8 for his 2 goals and Luke Ayling and Nathan Jones a 7 each for enthusiasm and effort. The rest would get 5's and 6's between them.

On the face of it the starting XI Skivo put out yesterday was as strong as any he's picked over the last two years, but there's an underlying brittleness that is concerning. Certainly the absence of Stephen Henderson in the second half didn't help, but even with an unfamiliar keeper between the sticks it should not have been beyond the Glovers to defend a 2-goal lead with only 3 minutes left on the clock. The Glovers best spell came in the second half in the aftermath of their third goal. Just for a short while they passed the ball well, dominated possession and created a couple of decent opportunities, none of which unfortunately were taken. Not even this side could have thrown away a 3-goal lead, could they? That brief spell apart however the football from both sides was mediocre, a word which pretty much sums up yesterday's game. If you weren't there then a 3-3 scoreline sounds great entertainment. Believe me, it wasn't.

The result leaves the Glovers back in 22nd place in the relegation zone, with 15 points from 14 games played. Our goal difference is comfortably the worst in the division at -10. It's not being alarmist to observe that until that is addressed and cured then with the best will in the world you just can't see anything other than a relegation fight for the rest of the season. So business as usual then!

No rest for the wicked anyway, and the Glovers now travel to Franchise FC on Tuesday night. The bookies make the home side 8/11 favourites, the draw is priced at 12/5 and a Glovers win at 7/2. More in hope than expectation my fiver's going on the draw. Running total: -£15.25p.

Once again I can only say you've got your report right, Skivo comments again "3 basic defending erors" well Skivo&Jones you've been in charge long enough for you to solve what as become more apparent with every game the reason were heading towards Div 2 unless you do solved it and soon
01/11/2010 15:09:32

james said ...

I know Jonesy contributed to two of the goals - but a 7 out of ten! He was his usual self, everytime he got the ball I was holding my breath ready for his inevitbale mistakes. Other than that i agree completely - although i think we should tell everyone it was really exciting so we dont go below 3,000 attendance cos i couldnt cope with that! Shame Bowditch couldn't of got a well deserved 4th cos i think even with our defence we coulda kept a 4-1!
01/11/2010 19:44:56

Submit Your Own Comments

Name :

E-Mail :

Notify Me When Comments Are Added To This Article?

NOTE: Your name will appear against your comment, but your email address will not be displayed. It is only required in case we need to contact you. It will not be distributed to anyone outside Ciderspace.